A Minimalist Wedding Photographer’s Gear Guide

Do you want to lighten your gear load on a wedding day? These two minimalist wedding photographers share what gear they now carry after switching from the typical DSLR.

In their latest edition of “What’s in My Bag,” CreativeLive interviews popular wedding photographers Davina and Daniel Kudish about what gear is essential for them on a wedding day. The first topic discussed is how they brand themselves as being minimalist, storytelling wedding photographers. This is important, as they make the point several times about their gear matching their brand. The silent shutter of the camera, the lens choices, and the camera size all fit in with the minimalist brand they've produced.

The other primary point they discussed was the weight of their cameras. They admit to feeling worn down after carrying multiple bulky DSLRs on long wedding days. The ability to now use the single lighter camera was a big reason for their recent switch to Sony. Another benefit of their camera choice is that its size allows it to be very convenient to carry day to day for things such as personal family moments that they only used their phones for before.

While this isn’t meant to be a promotion of Sony, as I am a Canon shooter myself, I can relate to their issues about size and weight. These two have done a great job of making their gear a selling point for their business, and it has obviously worked well for them.

Davina and Daniel's gear include the Sony a9 cameraSony 24-105mm f/4Zeiss 35mm f/2.8, and Sony HVL-F43M flash.

Levi Keplar's picture

Levi Keplar is a wedding and portrait photographer and educator. He currently owns and operates his studio, Katie & Levi Photography, with his wife and is based in the Wichita, Kansas area. He has a passion for both the technical and the business sides of photography and helping others to grow in those areas as well.

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8 Comments

Two photographers, one camera? Not even a backup?

They cover this in the first 40 seconds of the video. One camera and lens each. They do have backup gear in the bag.

So essentially, just use one lens, a 24-105. Sounds ever so minimalist. (And incidentally, I buy the argument about one good all-around lens having clear benefits, which to me is the real takeaway here.) But what about the backup camera, backup lens, backup flash, and the usual array of backup batteries, emergency chargers, etc? And if you do have the luxury of two shooters, why not a 70-200 from the balcony or even that classic fisheye balcony full-congregation shot? I see a camera bag starting to get pretty full.

It says they have a backup, so it's not a true full accounting of gear, just what they carry around. But they've prioritized stripped-down, light gear for a long time, and don't generally go very long or very wide in their focal lengths.

They mentioned using one body and a backup in the bag for two photographers... I'd be more comfortable carrying two bodies with maybe a 35mm and the other with an 85mm or longer. I get mirrorless but isn't the zoom heavier than most primes and is shutter noice really an issue? It seems counterproductive to me.

It is not the gear but the person behind it :) D+D made a good decision IMO... the way they photograph and how they do it is huge advantage for them to go with silent shutter and mirrorless... I know their work and how they edit files, freaking awesome stuff !!! And btw, be able to have work one with one lens is so beneficial...I am not there my 70-200 is the key part of my work but I know photographers who can do with just one lens and they do it so well... Kudos :) Happy shooting guys...

Nice straight forward feature. The autofocus with face memory seems amazing. Is it that good ? My Canon 5Dlll is not silent but it sure is quiet.
The couple's portfolio is great.

When I saw the title I was under impression I will read about something like this:

https://shotkit.com/bomknights/

This is pretty extreme and niche as well but interestingly there seem to be market for such wedding photography as well. Personally I'm a big fan but I realize most people do not think of this style when they hear about wedding photography.